by Jacqueline Alexander

IT is impossible to please all of the people all of the time. It is also impossible for one person to please another all of the time. We may want to and we may try to but, for some reason, it just can’t be done.

This was made clear to me as I was looking through a website dedicated to Mark Twain, the American author, satirist and lecturer. Having been a fan of Twain’s wit and insight for many years, I found myself feeling slightly irked and very protective of my nation’s reputation when I read a quote from the great man.

“An Englishman is a person who does things because they have been done before. An American is a person who does things because they haven’t been done before.”

Although briefly tempted to revise my opinion of Twain’s aforementioned insight, I decided to gain some perspective — and maybe stop being over-sensitive to criticism of my country — especially as there is a lot of it around at the moment. Anyway, how can you cut a man out of your life when he can make you laugh again and again?

Mark Twain died 100 years ago in 1910 but he left a rich legacy behind in the form of the written word which is still enjoyed the world over. Many websites feature quotes from his works — his observations were as sharp as his wit — but one site has taken it a step further.

Positivityblog.com could easily be lost in the plethora of sites dedicated to making us feel that life is a bowl of roses and, when it’s not, telling us that we can make it better. Personally, I reserve the right to wake up with a feeling of pending doom and indulge it until either sleep or alcohol (or both) make it go away. Luckily, this doesn’t happen often but, when it does, the last thing I need is a perky person pointing out the practicalities of positive thinking.

That said, this site has an interesting twist on the words of Twain. Taking just nine of his quotes, the author of this blog, Henrik Edberg, has produced “Mark Twain’s Top 9 Tips for Living a Kick-A** Life” and it’s really rather good. I could even be tempted to read it when that pending doom pays a visit.

There is not room to include all nine so I have selected my top three but I recommend you go along to Positivityblog.com and take a look at them all as choosing a top three was quite a challenge.

Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.

This quote is basically asking us to lighten up and find the funny side of any given situation. This one can take time and practice but it is difficult to find a better approach to most situations. Mr Edberg advises that humour helps us relax while Twain says that it is “mankind’s greatest blessing”.

Drag your thoughts away from your troubles…. by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.

A recent advertisement campaign for the MacMillan cancer support charity used the line “Today is a good day. Today wasn’t all about cancer”. It is difficult to think of a better example of dragging your thoughts away from your troubles but it’s a great concept and it can work — for problems of all sizes.

Lastly, in the spirit of saving the best ‘til last, here’s the one that needs no explanation.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS
What is happening on the search engines

The furore over the use of a photograph of a Spanish politician to create a digitally enhanced picture of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has caused a bit of a stir online. If we are to assume he is still alive, Bin Laden is now 52 so the powers that be thought it was time to release a picture of how he may have aged — just in case we get the opportunity to perform a citizen’s arrest. Online, the controversy has taken Bin Laden to the top spot in the search engines.

It’s difficult to tell if this has been a good week for Claudias of this world or if the online community is confused as to which one they are searching for. Whatever the truth, there are no less than four Claudias in the top 10 overall searches this week: Claudia Christian (actress), Claudia Jordon (model and presenter), Claudia Schiffer (supermodel) and Claudia Cardinale (actress).

The sad death of Erich Segal, who wrote Love Story, has brought with it a surge of curiousity about the man and his work. Despite the headlines describing Segal as the man behind the huge tearjerker of the Seventies, it is the Beatles’ movie penned by Segal, Yellow Submarine, that has come out on top in the search engines, making it to the number one spot in movie searches.

HSOtv

IT is less than three weeks until the by-election for the vacant seat on Henley Town Council left by the late Terry Buckett, so each of the three candidates tells us why they should get your vote. Find out more at HSOtv.

ONLINE POLL

AFTER the recent miserable weather, have you been inspired to book your summer holiday? Let us know on this week's poll